My hubby had surgery yesterday. He had a hernia that was plaguing him with constant pain. Needless to say, I had little sleep worrying about him and praying for the best outcome. This morning, he was released from the hospital and is home recovering. What a blessing and relief knowing he is on the road to recovery.
Fearless and I had many miles to cover, especially with the waterless stretches we’ve been covering. Jen suggested a road walk that would set us up for faster miles and quicker access to the spring/tank. I agreed and off we went. I typically don’t like road miles but I made an exception this go-around. It was a good choice and we met up with the trail in three hours, covering over ten miles. That’s fast walking for this duo.
Once on the Redline, we ran into Banshee. He’s another hiker I met in Glacier NP and here, some 2,000 miles later, we are seeing each other again. He’s been hiking with BumbleBerry who I met in the Bob. Her and Long Story are the two who had the dogs follow them all the way from East Glacier.
We all met up again at the Spring and shared lunch together. Banshee had miscalculated his days to Grants so he was shy on food. Good thing he was with Jen and I because we always have plenty of food. Typically there still is food in our packs when we arrive in town. We shared our lunch and gave him some provisions for the next couple of days.
The rest of our day was climbing Chavez Peak. It was a steep climb over 2500’ in less than three miles. But the good thing is we are off the desert floor as there were Flash Flood Warnings with the impending storm. They are saying we’ll have rain starting tonight through Sunday so four days of rain, ugh!
The locals warned us that this desert has funky clay that turns into impassable mud in minutes. Once it starts raining, watch out. I sure hope not, because that sounds absolutely miserable. I’ll report back as to the validity of this mud swamp. At this point, I might as well experience New Mexico all that it has to offer.
We made it to the plateau and it was heavenly. Nice and flat with tons of trees. As we were finishing up our day, I ran across a lone cow. Cows are herd animals so it was so odd to see her all by herself. I walked over towards her and she started mooing like she was quite upset. Lonely, afraid or just wanted me to leave. I tried calling her like a dog and if I had a leach or rope, I would’ve brought her with me. But I didn’t have either and she probably wouldn’t want to come with me anyhow. I marked her location and plan to tell someone. She needs to find a home for the winter.
Around 5-530pm, we found a resting place. The storm was moving in and it started to thunder with light rain. Jen found her trees and I moved a few rocks, pinecones, designing a makeshift bed for my tent. I’m pooped. No sleep tonight as I’m fretting over that lonely cow.
“For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine.”
Psalms 50:10-11 NLT
